Each night, from 1,900 provincial offices throughout the empire, the dreams of its subjects are brought to the vast and labyrinthine Tabir Sarrail to be sorted and interpreted. The ultimate in intelligence agencies, it anatomizes the empire's subconscious for embryonic hints of discontent and disorder. Each week, the most portentously significant of the dreams is sent to the Sultan, to whose security the Sarrail is more important than the Army or the police.

The countdown to the launch of Rocket Ismail was put on hold last weekend, but Coach Art Shell hopes his new receiver/return man will finally make his long-awaited debut Sunday against the Seahawks in Seattle. Ismail reported to the Raiders last week after the completion of contract negotiations that had dragged over five months. "He got here last Tuesday," Shell said, "and to just throw him out there, I didn't want to do that. We'll get him prepared for this week and go from there."

The Raiders have agreed in principle with receiver/return man Raghib (Rocket) Ismail on a two-year contract worth slightly less than $3 million, according to his attorney, Bob Woolf. According to Steve Ortmayer, the Raiders' director of football operations, the deal isn't final, but he planned on working late into Monday night in an attempt to hammer out the final details. And Ismail? He was sitting by his phone late Monday night at his home near Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

It is no secret that Raghib (Rocket) Ismail and his agent, Bob Woolf, have had contract talks with the Raiders during the last month. However, when the Toronto Sun reported Wednesday that Ismail had reached an agreement with the Raiders, it came as a surprise to both Ismail and Woolf. "Rocket called me up early Wednesday morning and the first thing he asked was, 'Did I sign?' " Woolf said. "The report is totally erroneous. It is absolutely wrong."

The long-awaited NFL debut of Raghib (Rocket) Ismail appeared that much closer Tuesday when the former Notre Dame standout visited the Raiders' practice facility in El Segundo. Ismail, drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round in 1991, worked out for nearly an hour for Raider owner Al Davis and the team's coaching staff. "It's pretty cool here," said Ismail, a wide receiver-kick returner who played the last two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

The Raiders have made a multiyear offer to Raghib (Rocket) Ismail that would pay the receiver-kick returner more than $1 million per season, his agent, Bob Woolf, said. Woolf said an agreement could be reached within a week. "Things are definitely heating up," Woolf said. "Nothing has been agreed on, but I'm satisfied that things are moving along." Woolf is scheduled to continue talks with the Raiders' director of football operations, Steve Ortmayer, on Friday in New York.

Bruce McNall is willing to negotiate a new contract for Raghib (Rocket) Ismail to play for the Toronto Argonauts, but says Ismail's multimillion-dollar personal-services deal with him has ended. McNall, who owns the Argonauts and Kings, said Tuesday the $18-million, four-year personal-services contract he signed with Ismail two years ago would be replaced by a football contract that might be worth more than $500,000 per season if the wide receiver fails to sign with the Raiders.

Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, his days in the Canadian Football League seemingly numbered, has received permission from owner Bruce McNall of the Toronto Argonauts to talk to the Raiders. Bob Woolf, Ismail's attorney, said he hopes to begin "exploratory" talks soon with the Raiders, who made Ismail a fourth-round draft choice in 1991. "We want to explore what (Ismail's) possibilities would be in the United States," Woolf said.

Is Bruce McNall about to tell the Rocket to blast off? Will the Rocket alter his course and land in Los Angeles as a Raider? Speculation mounted that this would be the scenario after McNall, owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, met with advisers of Raghib (Rocket) Ismail in Century City on Wednesday.